Five Things We Will Learn:
- Why re-digging the wells honors God’s past moves and positions us for what He is about to do.
- How Isaac’s three wells (Esek—Dispute, Sitnah—Opposition, Rehoboth—Room) map the journey from conflict to flourishing.
- Why family, honor, and spiritual fathering are God’s government—and how dishonor muddies the waters.
- How prophetic confirmations and regional stories (Brownsville, Pensacola) point to an impending wave of God’s glory.
- Practical ways to stay rightly related so love, humility, and unity release the commanded blessing.
Opening: The Call to Re-Dig the Wells We’re talking about re-digging the wells today and just what God is saying. And if you think about it, you had Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Well, Abraham dug wells, and then Jacob—remember even Jacob’s well—remember Jesus walking up to the lady who was drinking, the Samaritan lady who was drinking at what? Jacob’s well. But with that, it’s so significant because we’re talking about what God is doing—His Spirit. When you talk about water, “From your belly will flow living waters.” The well of God is within us. Then you say, like, 80% of our body is made up of water and all. But understand that re-digging the wells—I think about what they’re doing in Birmingham. They were talking about re-digging the wells, you know, that’s going on up there.
Honoring What God Has Done While Pressing Into What He Will Do But what He says in Genesis when He’s talking about re-digging the wells—and this is what the Lord’s been just really laying—you’re wondering what God’s doing with you, right? You’re wondering what He’s doing and the fullness of it because you’re, like, playing just a part in His whole story, and you want to be faithful to whatever He’s called you to do. But re-digging the wells is honoring what God has done while you’re diving into what God is going to do. It’s not shunning what God has done and degrading those that have carried the mantle. It’s actually appreciating what God has done, understanding it’s God. You know what I’m saying? It’s God. And so with that, we want to honor what God has done and is doing and is going to do. And there are some awesome things. But first, just thinking about—I think about Rick Joyner. They had a conference at MorningStar Ministries about, you know, honoring fathers. And they went back and, you know, God’s generals that we’re familiar with—that Roberts Liardon wrote about. And they talked about John G. Lake. Yeah, John G. Lake, Branham. And they even had this one particular man that was ministering there—you probably know his name, I can’t remember his name—but God took him back in a vision and showed him in Branham’s room when the angel came to Branham and said, “Now it’s time for you to go.” But there came a moment in time where the Lord basically said—He may have even said, “You made a mess of things.” I don’t know what it was, but I don’t want to fool him—“It’s time for you to come home.” And he asked, “Oh no,” you know, whatever. And then his wife had passed.
Flawed Vessels and Holy Fear And then, you know, there comes a time you have to understand we’re flawed vessels. Everybody that’s been used by God—even Elijah—you know, the Word of God says in James that he was a man just like you’re a man. And so God uses folks like you and me and whoever. And so—which should put the fear of God in you and make you think, “I’m a man, I can mess this up, right? Dear God. Dear God, help me.” Which should create humility in our life to say, “The only way that God can use me is if I humble myself and just say, ‘Here I am, God—I can’t,’” that type of thing.
Learn From What He’s Already Done—That’s Why We Read Scripture And so one way to participate, from my experience and from hearing others share their experience, is understanding what God has already done. I mean, that’s why you read the Bible. The Bible is something God has done, and it builds our faith for what He is going to do. And so somebody says, “Well, I don’t want to hear anything about what God has done.” The whole Bible is about what God has done, and it has prophecy about what He’s going to do. So to cut off anything that God has done—call it history—it’s like, brother, the Bible. Hello.
Don’t Forget How the “Now” Got Here And so don’t get so caught up in the now that you forget how the now got here. Because all of a sudden you’ll end up and go adrift. And so just thinking about what the Lord has done and honoring that and re-digging the wells, you think about Isaac—you know, Isaac had to go out where his father was and reopen the wells that had been dug, had been buried—re-dig the wells that his father Abraham had dug. But the Philistines went and buried those wells. When you hear Philistines—when you read about Philistines in the Old Testament—think about this: people that are moving out of their own mind, their own flesh—you know, King James folks—the carnality of their reality, you know what I’m saying? They’re moving out of what seems right to them, but it’s not God. Or it’s just people outright attacking the church. But seldom—it’s normally religion that attacks what God is doing. But the Philistines, they went and buried the water, the access to the water.
Muddy Wells vs. Pure Water (Torch and Sword) And it makes me think about The Torch and the Sword, the vision—The Torch and the Sword. You know, when Rick Joyner was speaking about the vision God had taken him to—you’ve got to get The Torch and the Sword and read it because you want to be this 12-year-old girl. You want to be that brave young girl. But in that, there was a lot of muddy water where there was good water at one time, but the sheep were basically—the people were drinking out of muddy wells that had been dirtied up. And what dirties up—when you think about the water—it’s the teachings; it’s the fresh flow of God’s Spirit in your life. And so the water gets muddied up. It gets muddied up by false teachings. The leaders get in sin, and they start saying, “That’s—I know I taught—let’s just focus—let’s forget,” and the next thing is like, “We can make mud pies with this message.” Anyway—understand, those are still God’s folks, and God’s wanting to bring them into clear water. And so when you’re talking about re-digging the wells, you’re talking about getting down to the fresh water. I remember when they were digging a well—I mean, you have lots of water on your property. “Not anymore.” “Not anymore.” But you’ve got to go down so deep to get to the water that’s drinkable. And so few people are willing to go that deep in God. You know, they just want to—like, “I hit water, let’s drink,” and everybody dies. You can’t drink that water. That’s trash water. That’s run-off. That’s just stuff skimmed off the top. It’s got to go through all those layers—and how God’s designed it—to get down to the drinkable water. But some people just say, “It’s kind of muddy, but I can get some sort of device going. It’s good enough. It’s wet. I’m thirsty. I need something.” And it does bring, you know, liquid to your body. It seems right. But there’s a pure water. It’s a pure water that flows from the throne of God. And there is a river, as He talks about, that flows from the throne of God that brings life. And so when we’re talking about re-digging the wells, we’re talking about that river—that river of freshness. And so when you’re talking about re-digging the wells, we’re not talking about going to the ground and digging. We’re talking about going into our hearts and going into the body and saying, “Let’s get into the Word of God, and let’s get back into what God has said.”
Isaac’s Choice: New Thing or Father’s Wells? But the Philistines went and plugged the wells. And so Abraham’s son, Isaac, had to decide, “Am I going to do a new thing? Am I going to just, like—‘that was Dad, and that was—look at the music that they played’—and ‘I want something with my own name on it. I want my name up in lights. If I dig that well, they’re going to think that’s him and it’s not me.’” If it was God, they’re going to know it’s God and not you. That’s a good thing. That’s a good thing. By the way, you don’t want to put your name on it. This is what Peter—I think it was Peter that said—was it Peter or John? James and John—actually, their mama. “Mama, please, mama. Sit down, sit down. You’re embarrassing me.” They’re going like, “Can you have new wells dug on the side of you where my two sons can sit on the side of you, Jesus?” And of course, Jesus said, “You don’t even know what you’re asking.” You don’t even know what you’re asking. And really, none of us know what we’re asking. The question is, if it requires your death for His life in people, are you willing to give it? Do you want Him to do what He does so awesomely, so badly, that you’re willing to lay down your life for it? Because it will require you to lay down your life for it. And when it’s said and done, since that was your already measured-out price, then you’re going like, “Cool. That’s what I wanted to do. That was fulfilled.” That is a true man or woman of God’s white picket fence. It’s like—that is—you’re in heaven. It’s a gold picket fence in heaven.
Isaac’s Choice: New Thing or Father’s Wells? Abraham’s son, Isaac, had to decide, “Am I going to do a new thing, or will I re-dig my father’s wells?” It would have been easy to say, “That was Dad’s move, that was Dad’s music, I want something with my own name on it.” But if it was God, they would know it’s God, not man. And that is a good thing. Isaac chose to honor his father’s wells.
Isaac’s Three Wells: From Dispute to Room When Isaac re-dug the wells of Abraham, Genesis 26:18–22—Esek, Sitnah, Rehoboth
Isaac’s Three Wells: From Dispute to Room The First Well: Esek (Dispute) The first particular move of God, or the outpouring in re-digging the wells of the father—not some strange water, strange fire type thing—there was quarreling over it. He named that well—the definition of that word Esek—“dispute.” Don’t give up because dispute’s happening. Just hang in there and realize—just don’t be a part of it. Don’t be a part of disputing.
The Second Well: Sitnah (Opposition) Then he goes and begins to dig another well. And they began to quarrel over this one also. So here he is, just re-digging the wells of his father—and people are arguing over it. This particular well is called Sitnah, which means “opposition.” Even when you’re doing the right thing, people will give you a real hard time. But remember: rivalry often precedes revival, and humility precedes an outpouring.
The Third Well: Rehoboth (Room) He digs another well, and they begin to quarrel over it. He named this one Rehoboth—which means “room.” Meaning—and this is what he says in Genesis 26:18–22: “Now the Lord has given us room, and we will flourish in the land.” Despite dispute and opposition, steadfastness brought him to a place of flourishing and expansion. Genesis 26:18–22 records three outcomes. Each has a name, a meaning, and a spiritual lesson for us today.
The First Well: Esek (Dispute) The first particular move of God, or the outpouring in re-digging the wells of the father, was quarreled over. Isaac named that well Esek, meaning “dispute.” Don’t give up when disputes arise. Stay steady, and don’t be part of the disputing.
The Second Well: Sitnah (Opposition) Isaac dug again, and there was more quarreling. He named the second well Sitnah, meaning “opposition.” Even when you are doing the right thing, expect resistance. Remember: rivalry often precedes revival, and humility precedes an outpouring.
The Third Well: Rehoboth (Room) Finally, Isaac dug another well. This time, he said, “Now the Lord has given us room, and we will flourish in the land.” He named it Rehoboth, meaning “room.” Despite disputes and opposition, perseverance led to flourishing and expansion.
Gulf Coast, Lineage, and Fathers of the City Anyway, so he had to go re-dig these wells, which means we need to be able to honor what God has done in our fathers. In the Gulf Coast region—and I think about Pensacola—God called us. The Word of God established us and made room for us—what we’re talking about—in a region that we labored for years in with the Malachi mandate and all the things that had happened with the Brownsville Revival and the things that are going on. But He established this, and what He’s doing—we’re going to talk about that. But with that, there are fathers involved in this. There are those that have labored. Don’t think that whatever you began is not connected to what was. I mean, because it all goes back—your sin goes back to the garden, and the move of God goes back to Abraham, okay? And so it’s all connected. And if you want to get rid of—you see what I’m saying—you’ve got to connect to the sin lineage; you’ve got to connect to the God lineage. There are two fathers that I know of in the city: Brother Ken Sumrall, who labored for years and had this heart’s desire—and he’s with the Lord now—and one who led the Brownsville Revival that shook the world, Brother John Kilpatrick, who is also a spiritual father to me. And I just want to—you want to learn from those who have walked before us and understand: What’s the cost going to be, and are we willing to pay it? Are we willing to give God the glory? Are we willing to say—because we talked about the lighthouse prophecy and what God is saying about that region, which is like the womb, according to Yolanda—we’ll talk to her more in the future—of the nation; that it requires 700 ministers to walk in unity with no strife and no division and no jealousy, no envy. And that was the big thing—oh my goodness. Let’s just believe God for that. Let’s believe that God’s going to do something. And Prayer Mountain, Fire Mountain will be established so the whole nation—that tsunami—will come.
Keep Going Deep: Pure Water Costs Something We’re talking about re-digging the wells, and we’re going to continue the conversation. It’s so important to think about it because we’re honoring those who have labored—those who are still with us and those who have already gone to be with the Lord. You think about Steve Hill. We talked about his memorial. We’re hoping this week sometime we’ll be able to play maybe a seven-minute memorial just to hear what was happening. Going back to the original intent of God—getting in the Word of God. What’s the fresh Word of God? And it’s not like taking your shovel and digging in the ground somewhere. But you can use that analogy, and you’ve got to go deep enough in God to get pure water. You can’t just stop at muddy water. And some people just go, “That’s just too much. I don’t want to put that kind of energy, that kind of finance, that kind of—you know, it’s going to take a lot of my life. Besides, I have the I and the me and the my stuff I’m working on.”
A Tsunami of Glory But understand, there’s a tsunami. There’s a tsunami coming to America, I believe, of God’s glory—tidal waves. I mean, think about this: when I saw the tsunami they showed in the news clip of the Indian Ocean, it is like a swell that comes up. And we’re all just like micro-dots on this earth. It’s amazing. And it swells and it just kind of pushes its way on land. And it doesn’t matter whether you are a preacher or a prostitute, a pimp or a store owner, or living in a condo or a shack. It just pushed through all of it—which was horrific, by the way, when you saw that take place. But now imagine the glory of God just coming like that, where all of a sudden people just pull their cars over and begin to cry out to God, when schools break out in revival and cry out. And we’ve seen the children. We’ve seen the children. God has shown us visions of children standing up in crowds and preaching the gospel and the power of God. And we’ve seen—not only in the vision—we’re actually seeing children now hear from God and deliver such a—because it’s what they’re hearing from God; when they speak what God said, it’s just powerful. It just penetrates the heart, and it makes you go—“Oh yeah, that’s God.”
Genesis 26:18–22—Esek, Sitnah, Rehoboth And so, re-digging the wells—we’re talking about that. And so, re-digging the wells of our fathers—because when you look in Genesis, when He’s talking about Isaac re-digging the wells of his father Abraham in Genesis 26:18–22, it’s Abraham—the father of faith’s wells—that were dug. And remember, Abraham was on a faith journey: “Get thee up and go, and I’ll show you.” So—excuse me—so in that, he had to go back where his father was. It’s like—you’ve got to connect to what God has done so you can—that will bring you into what God’s going to do. You can’t just shun what God has done and think—it’s that strange fire. What are you doing? It’s dishonoring. It’s dishonoring to God in the context of that. And think about this—what God said: “If I’m your Father, where’s My honor?” And look at America. America’s—it’s the fatherlessness in America in the natural sense, the absence of the father in the natural sense, but also the absence and the dishonoring of the spiritual fathers in the Lord. And it’s like, when honor gets right—if you tell me who you honor, I can tell your destiny. And somebody who’s single-minded and not honoring folks—they’re honoring themselves. It’s like, “Well, you’re just bearing witness of yourself.” And even Jesus didn’t do that. Jesus allowed His Father to affirm and say, “This is My Son in whom I’m well pleased.” I mean, if the Son of God didn’t bear witness of Himself, who is affirming you? Who is saying that this is right? You know what I’m saying? Who’s saying, “This is My son in whom I’m well pleased and whom I love”? And you know you want it—but you’re going to have to be the son. You know, you can’t—the father’s not going to hunt you up. The son is the one that actually looks for the father. And we’re not talking anything freaky here. We’re just talking about what God joins together for the purpose of His will. It’s called family.
Family Over Organization—Conquering the Family Mountain And when the church family gets right—Jesus said—when they knocked on the door, they said, “Your family’s outside—your mother and your brother.” And most people go, “Yep, that’s your family, Jesus.” But Jesus said, “Who is My family?” And that’s the question you’ve got to begin to ask. Appreciate and honor those who are in close proximity and even biologically related to you—and thank God for them being saved. If they are, that means they’re part of your family—the family of God. But understand—the family—there’s a family: Father God; elder brother, Jesus Christ, the head of the Church; and we are children of God, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. We’re sons of God. Think about that. That’s huge. We’re in a family. And so when family seems strange to you and organization seems right to you, it’s because the enemy has damaged your understanding of family. And you’ve got to begin to rediscover—and you’ve got to re-dig the well. When you talk about the seven mountains of the culture—one of those mountains is the family mountain. If we just get the family mountain right, forget about the government mountain, the media mountain—let’s get the family mountain right. Because you can have the government going right, but your family blows up and everything’s—the church family blows up. I mean, your natural family can blow up if they’re not following God. I’m talking about the family of God—people who love God who are not operating as family, don’t have the family mountain conquered in their own heart, and don’t understand how to relate and how to honor. Then who cares about the other mountains right now? Because you’re going to be defeated before you even get there. I’m just saying, right?
Honoring Fathers—Ken Sumrall’s Story And so, re-digging these wells—we’re talking about honoring those that have gone before us. And it can go all the way back. And it’s amazing how things are connected. When you see folks today, for example—well, I’m not going to name certain names. There’s so much dishonor out there. If you name some names, people—immediately judgments and criticisms come up. But I can speak specifically about Ken Sumrall—Brother Ken Sumrall—spiritual father to me who labored for years over the region where God called and established the VFN Dream Center and Apostolic Center to be able to do what He’s going to do in the nation—in the region. And his heart’s desire was always to see the Kingdom expand and to see the family grow—the family of God grow. And he was always frustrated because people would build their kingdoms. They would build their kingdoms, and they would not—they would not—they wouldn’t launch out, they wouldn’t—you know, there was just—and his vision, when he first had the encounter with the well—you know, he got filled with the river of God, and the pure water was flowing through him. It just washed him out of right where he was into his destiny. And then eventually a school was birthed to be able to do what his heart was—which was to train and launch, train and launch—which was Liberty College, Liberty Bible College back then. And so his passion was: you got God, get rightly related, get connected, get discipled, get trained up, and go tell somebody about this Jesus who loves them and has a plan for their life. But as things began to plant and churches began to get established, all of a sudden it became centrifugal, I guess it’s called, right? Or whatever that word was—and self-focused. “We’ve got to get new carpet. If we get new carpet here, and you know, the PowerPoint”—PowerPoints are very helpful—“and whatever.” And you’re just—it’s like, how many more times are we going to change the chairs here before we actually pull chairs out and say, “You’ve got to go out”? But that doesn’t work unless you’re rightly related. I mean, it does—what happens. And so, re-digging that well—I know that he labored. And I remember we were sitting around a unified table—remember the Malachi Mandate, with the fathers and sons—Malachi. And we’re sitting around a table—maybe 70 leaders. We had the governmental leaders there. We had church leaders there. We had military leaders there. We had law enforcement. We had business folks. And this is what Brother Ken said, who had labored for all these years: “I’ve never seen such unity. I’ve never seen such unity.” And we were so busy working, I had to just listen to him because we were working so hard. “Oh yeah.” It was like—because we’d never seen— But understand—because he labored so hard, and Brother John Kilpatrick labored so hard, that the current flowed like a double portion, I guess you would say—almost like a just carriage—just, you know what I’m saying? And so all of a sudden, something that he had never seen before was taking place in front of him—but it’s because of being rightly related. But it’s also because of honoring him. I mean, he was a very cool man. He was a very great father in the Lord. And so he’s looking at what he’d never seen before coming out of the next generation of what’s going on.
When Dishonor Vandalizes the Work But at the same time, we had spiritual vandals that came in—people who didn’t understand how to honor what God was doing and didn’t understand: this is all us. There’s only one Church, you know what I’m saying? Really—one Church. And it’s the Church of Ephesus, the Church of Galatia—and it’s like, “This is a good thing.” And all of a sudden, because of that self-focus, it literally vandalizes that, right? And it’s like, “What’s going on?” in the name of doing it—vandalizing it. And that is dishonor. That is to dishonor what Brother Ken had labored for years and what birthed out of the Malachi Mandate. Because remember, at first, it birthed in his heart—he was at a conference, a businessman’s conference in Alabama. He was going to go minister to some ministers at a Full Gospel Business Men’s meeting. And he was in his hotel, and he was praying about, “What do I need to do?” And then all of a sudden, God broke his heart. He broke his heart and began to speak to him. We come back from this break, I’m going to tell you what the Lord said to him. We’re talking about re-digging the wells.
The Fatherless Burden—What God Told Ken Sumrall Right before the break, we were talking about what did Ken Sumrall—what did God speak to him—before he went to speak to that Full Gospel Business Men’s meeting? Because he was going to minister there. God broke his heart, and He broke his heart for these ministers. He just all of a sudden had this heart—the Father’s heart—for these ministers. And the Lord spoke specifically—and I can’t, and we’ll have it for you eventually—but the exact words I’m not going to be able to quote to you. But He broke his heart for them and said that they’re fatherless, they’re lonely, they have no one. And maybe you’re listening right now and you’re thinking: you gave your life to God, you wanted to do something for God, and you went for it—and that’s cool—but you’re realizing you’re alone. And at the very beginning of time, God said it’s not good for man to be alone. And maybe you went off and got married, thinking that was going to resolve things—and now, because you looked to that to fix the ministry, maybe the enemy’s even using your marriage to come against the very thing that you’re doing. What brings health into this? Being rightly related. And He says in Malachi—the Word of God says that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes—right now the coming of the Lord seems almost nigh, near, close. And for a friend of mine, he’s already gone to be with the Lord—he just passed away. I mean, you just don’t know when your day is going to be. But He says, before that day comes, “I will send Elijah”—and He’s talking about the spirit of Elijah (Jesus—what Jesus is doing; spirit of Jesus) and prophecy—and He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, or else He’ll smite the earth with a curse. And so think about this: it’s not just natural fathers—because if Jesus said, “Who’s My Father? Who’s My family?” and it wasn’t biological—some people kind of just immediately look at everything in the natural sense. God is Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Let me tell you: what you don’t see is more real than what you do see. Understand—He’s Spirit, and He’s speaking spiritually here so you can understand—not only may the natural fathers turn or not (because He said, “or else I’ll smite the earth with a curse”)—but begin to say, “Dear God, if I’m called to be a father in the Lord, if I’m called to be a mother in the Lord, if I’m called to be—there’s somebody I’m supposed to connect to and relate to.” And there’s nothing—I mean, God speaks to you—yeah, He speaks. But there’s nothing like having that affirming voice where it’s not just you. He says, “Let things be established by two witnesses.” And so if God has called you to relate to someone, He will speak to them too. And then your spirit will bear witness with their spirit, and God’s witness will bear—your spirit will bear witness. It’s like, “Okay, this is a confident direction. This is where I’m going to go with this.” And it’s time no longer to be fatherless. I mean, how are you going to—think about this—how are you going to continue to minister to those in your fellowship who are ending up more and more fatherless every single day? Men are becoming more and more absent. You’re fatherless; you’re refusing to get rightly related; and they just become more and more like you every day. And all of a sudden you have this huge orphanage going on, and you’re feeding folks, but you can’t do everything because you aren’t in that family that you need to be—because we’re all called to be able to do that. And so it’s important—just begin to pray: “Dear Lord, I’d like to—maybe you’re called to be a father.” If you don’t have one—like Mike Bickle said—“If you’ve been looking for 20 years to find one, be one.” In the context of following God and doing what God is saying—just love someone.
Fathers vs. Orphans—How Honor Thinks This is what a father wants—a true father in the Lord and a healthy natural father: they’re not in competition with you. Your success is their success. They want you to succeed greater—then go, “That’s my boy, that’s my girl.” But an orphan—somebody who’s fatherless, who struggles with their identity, and who’s thinking what they do is who they are—and “God loves me more because I’m doing more now”—they’re intimidated by your success, and it’s difficult. They cannot celebrate your success. The very one that you love will not be in competition with you—and if they are, that’s not family; that’s dysfunctional family. And so that’s what that is.
Confidence Through Right Relationship You need somebody who wants to impart into you and bears witness with what’s inside of you. Like Paul did with Timothy—Paul said, “Fan into flame that which is inside of you.” And you can know that if you truly are rightly related, you can have confidence. Because this is a big thing the enemy’s doing—he’s going to constantly fight for your confidence. I mean, you’ll look back over times and go, “It’s amazing that I even made it at the time because I had lost—I had to dig through everything. Where’s my confidence? You’ve seen my confidence.” But when you’re rightly related, you can have confidence. There’s nothing like family. Even Jesus had family while He was walking: “I was faithful with those You entrusted to Me.” And so I just want to encourage you—just begin to pray now. Be a part of the end-time move of God by getting rightly related to those whom God has called you to be related to. You’ve got the church thing down; you’ve got the religious thing down; you can teach—I mean, you’ll teach us; no one’s even listening. But regarding family—family is your reward. Family is your reward.
Beware the Muddy Stream—Measure by Love And if you’re intimidated about re-digging the wells of our fathers and being connected to what our fathers have done and are doing, then that means—that’s not healthy. That’s a muddy stream. And it could be a flash in the pan—something can happen. Because the Kingdom of God is within us. You have to understand this: the Kingdom of God is within the believer. So you could actually do something that stirs me, and because God’s inside of me and it stirs my faith, things can happen—I can get healed. As a matter of fact, Jesus said many people were going to come to Him in the last days and say—a lot of people—the Kingdom was moving in a lot of folks. But for you, “I never knew you.” So you cannot determine where you are in God based on someone else’s experience, or how well your gift is moving. You determine where you are in God by—How do you love folks? I mean, think about Bob Jones. Of all the things that God could have said to Bob Jones when he stood before the throne room of God in the ’70s, He said, “Did you learn to love?” And if you’ve got a whole bunch of fear and paranoia and all that kind of stuff, it’s because you’re alone. You’re not meant to be alone. You’re meant to be—God says it’s not good for you to be alone. You need to be rightly related. You’ve got to love folks—I mean, authentically love folks. When you get close to people, you find out stuff in your life. You find out flaws in your life. And those are the things—you know, the rubbing of the stones, as Mark Hamby would say—it’s the smoothing of those stones. And so if you’re intimidated—and you would just shut down regarding re-digging the wells—and you’re settling for muddy water and emotional functions and measuring yourself by someone else’s experience in God by your ability to stir the Kingdom in them, then—I just want to encourage you: find family; get connected. You’re going to be really shocked too—we are actually all going to be together forever. You’re going to get to heaven and be like, “How did you get here?” It’s like, “We’re family, man. We’re family. La familia. Come on, let’s talk. You avoided me—but here we are. Let’s spend 1,000 years together.” You know—that’s going to be something.
Family Is an Organism—Not an Organization And so—re-digging the wells—we’re talking about re-digging the wells. And I say that because when Brother Ken’s heart was broken, like I said, at that fellowship gathering of ministers, and the Lord told him they’re fatherless and they’re alone—that was the beginning of when he stepped out of organization and got into organism, which is family. Family’s not an organization; it’s an organism. It’s living. It functions in some contexts, but it’s family. It doesn’t have “Father” over the bedroom door, but everybody in the household knows that’s the father, for example. But then think about what he saw sitting around in the next generation—because he broke that in his generation—and in the next generation, when he sat around that table with 70 leaders—government, military, law enforcement, ministers, corporations, small business, big business—70 leaders—“I have never seen such unity in all my life,” he said. He saw that because of being rightly related. Understand this: if you want to see something bigger than has ever happened before, connect to what God has already done. Get rightly related. Borrow from the wisdom of those that have gone before us. Let them mentor us in the direction that we’re going so that we don’t—we’re going to flash in the pan. And God loves it. As a matter of fact, this is what He says: when you dwell together in that kind of unity, in that kind of family unity, He says that it’s good and it’s pleasing, and it’s the place of the commanded blessing.
Isaac’s Redigging—Conflict Then Blessing We’re talking about re-digging the wells of our fathers and how Isaac did that in regard to Abraham in Genesis—I think it was Genesis 26:18–22. But Isaac went out and reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines stopped up. So when you read about Philistines, think about the works of the flesh. Think about the enemies of God doing things. And Jesus said Himself, there’ll be days that people kill you and think they’re doing Me a favor, right? In a religious kind of format. But Isaac’s servants went out to the same valley, went to the same wells, and began to re-dig those wells. And what was interesting was—prior to that, there were no conflicts going on. No conflicts going on at all. But as soon as he dug the first well—when he was digging the first well—the herdsmen began to argue over it. And it’s like, listen—if God is pouring out His river somewhere on the earth, celebrate it. Just be thankful, be grateful, and do whatever you need to do to honor God in the context of that. Survival, by the way, would be being rightly related in the context of that. But it was interesting—they began to argue over the stream and the river. I remember the word given by Jeremiah Johnson out of Lakeland—he talked about there’ll be rivalry before there’s revival. And obviously that’s what’s happening here, because this first well that Isaac re-dug of his father—the name of the well is Esek. Esek, which means “dispute.” So he literally named the first move of God “Dispute.” The first outpouring—the movement—was “dispute.” And it’s like, “I don’t want to be a part of that one. I want to be a part of what we’re going to talk about a little bit more.” And they began to quarrel over it and they said, “This water’s ours. This water’s ours.” That also reminds me of another word that we’ll make available to you on this post on The Torch—what Jeremiah Johnson gave—that Joe Miller (who leads the 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting, a businessman in Pensacola who has a lot of positive things to say about the city—if you want to hear about what God’s doing in the city, he’s definitely a man to talk to)—he turned me on to what Jeremiah Johnson was saying. He talked about there’s this wall being built up—you’ve got to see it; we’ll make that word available to you—but basically this wall’s got to come down, which is humility (which we just heard even in the break). And they’re saying, China’s praying that we would be humbled—and their prayer is probably going to be answered—or is going to be answered. But God has a move He wants to pour out in America, and in the Panhandle of Florida specifically—that’s what he’s talking about. You’ve got to see this whole word. It really encouraged me when Joe shared it with me, and it’s encouraging those that I’m sharing it with. So we’ll make sure that you get it—maybe we’ll even read it to you in the programs. But the first particular move of God, or the outpouring in re-digging the wells of the father—not some strange water, strange fire type thing—there was quarreling over it. He named that well—the definition of that word Esek—“dispute.” Don’t give up because dispute’s happening. Just hang in there and realize—just don’t be a part of it. Don’t be a part of disputing. Then he goes and begins to dig another well. And they began to quarrel over this one also. So here he is, just re-digging the wells of his father—and people are arguing over it. And it’s like—first of all, you’d think, “This is my father’s well. Why would you even want to drink from this?” He’s able to say—Isaac’s able to say, “This is Jacob’s well.” “We got this—that’s my—God of Abraham and Isaac.” And so he named this well—because they were quarreling over the second well. He’s doing the right thing, re-digging the wells of the father. Understand—even when you’re doing that, people are going to give you a real hard time. The word from Jeremiah Johnson was: there’ll be rivalry before there’s revival, and humility before there’s an outpouring. This particular well is called Sitnah. This second well is Sitnah, and this well means “opposition.” So think about it: the first thing I did for God—the first move of God—was called what? “Dispute.” How many people give up? “I did that, and people just went crazy and started attacking me,” and all that kind of stuff. And you didn’t have the fortitude, you didn’t have the relationships—you didn’t—especially, I can imagine he was digging his father’s well; he wasn’t digging his own. I can imagine you’re not going to survive any disputes if you’re on your own, right? Come on. And so—I pray you do—but I’m talking about the context. So a dispute came with proper order—there’s still a dispute. People claimed it as their own, so they began to fight over it. The second well he dug was named “Opposition.” It’s like, “Welcome to the first opposition of the—we just want to appreciate the disputed move of God and then the opposition that came against the next time God was moving,” and he’s re-digging the wells of the father.
Don’t Quit Before Rehoboth—The Room to Flourish But I want to talk to you about this third well—and it’s so exciting. He didn’t give up, and you can’t give up. You’ve got to hold in there and just stay humble, which means totally dependent on God, respect folks, and just—like Mary—ponder things in your heart; hope for the best; realize we’re all family; and pray for people and pray for the Church. I’m seeing great things happen in the Church at large—it’s exciting. She’s alive! He digs another well, and they begin to quarrel over it. He named this one Rehoboth—Rehoboth, which means “room.” Meaning—and this is what he says in Genesis 26:18–22: “Now the Lord has given us room, and we will flourish in the land.” Think about that. “Now the Lord has given us room.” It’s the same valley, the same place, the same wells of his father, but something happens because you hold in there and you don’t turn your back on what God has already done, and you connect to and rightly relate and honor those who have gone before you. And honoring—whatever you do to the least of these of Mine, Jesus said, you do it to Me. So to dishonor a father in the Lord is to dishonor God, isn’t it? It’s not about an individual, and it’s not about your feelings, right? It’s not about your feelings. Pat taught us that, right? “Oh yes he did—we are over getting our feelings hurt,” we’re always joking sometimes. Anyway—think about it. He didn’t give up, and all of a sudden he’s digging; he’s doing the work of the ministry; he’s re-digging the wells—that flow that comes, the river that flows from the throne of God that brings healing—and all of a sudden, despite the dispute, despite the opposition, this well was about making room in the very same land to flourish. And it was so cool because I know that when we—when God was speaking to us—regarding the disputes, regarding the opposition, and regarding the “Really?”—and when He basically said, “Listen, this is what I’m going to do. This thing is going to be Rehoboth for you. It’s going to be a place that’s going to be room for you, and then you’re going to flourish, because this is where I’m going to establish you in the Gulf Coast.” And it was amazing—it was just the same place, same fathers, same everything—but just staying steadfast and listening to what God says. And all of a sudden, this whole different aspect of flow—of the well and the freshness and the anointing, if you would—and what God is doing.
Honor the Jars of Clay—And Drink the Living Water I want to encourage you: honor the fathers who have gone before you. Understand that if that was God, then to dishonor them is to dishonor what God did. And listen—if you don’t know this or not—you’re flawed. I’m flawed, we’re all flawed. So you can focus on people’s flaws—or you can focus on their clay—or you can focus on God, who puts His all-surpassing power in jars of clay to show that it’s Him doing this mighty move of God—not the individual—but God is using them, for whatever reason He chose to do that. Honoring them is honoring what God has done. Think about it, right? We need to—think how beautiful it would be that we would honor what God has done. God Himself said, “If I’m your Father, where is My honor?” That’s what He says in Malachi. And that’s just a driving force in what God has been saying. Think about this: even our own bodies—how God designed us—they say we’re 70% water. Seventy percent water. Isn’t that amazing? And at birth, water accounts for about 80% of an infant’s body weight. Eighty percent—wow. Which means you take away the water, and all you have is 20% of mass left. Wow. And God says—when you’re talking about the water, you’re talking about the water of His Spirit. He says, “From your belly will flow—just ask Me if you’re really thirsty—at this well, ma’am, at Jacob’s well. If you’re really thirsty—if you want to go back to the fathers’ well,” and it’s at the fathers’ well which she was beginning to drink—He says, “I can give you water that you’ll never thirst again.”
Anticipating the Great Awakening And I believe this tsunami of the glory—of the water and the wave of God—is going to go across this land. And we’re believing for a great awakening. We’re going to leave the—“Hey, you’re going to say yes to God.” We’ve been talking about re-digging the wells, and we talked about re-digging the wells of our fathers. Wasn’t that encouraging and exciting to hear, as we’re exploring what that means? It’s honoring what God has done, connecting to what He has done, so that there’s a double portion—and then you’re hearing all the context of that. But also—it’s what Isaac did. Isaac went to re-dig the wells of his father. But this is the big thing—it’s such a shocker when you first begin to do something for God, that the first thing that happens is dispute. Amen. If you don’t have relationship, it’s hard to get through that because you’re trying to figure out why people who profess to be followers of God, who say they love Jesus—and they may even be ministers—why would they be disputing with you? And you may be downcast and sad—“It happened to Isaac.” The first well he dug was called “Dispute.” And you think, “Well, great, okay, I got that figured out. Now I’m going to go after God. I’m going to do what it takes and dig into God’s Word and pray like Charles Parham or Seymour did in history, and cry out to God.” And the next one comes and it’s named “Opposition.” And you can hear more about that—literally the second well he dug he named “Opposition.” Dispute and Opposition. Some people give up—“That’s it. I’ve had dispute.” Some get offended and think, “I don’t care about these folks anymore.” But the truth is, that’s your big test. The big test is: Do you still love? And the Lord—why would God use you if you don’t even love Him? You don’t even have a knowledge of His love for you. How will you communicate the love of God when you don’t even know the love of God? The love of God makes it past disputes. It goes well beyond opposition. It doesn’t stop loving when opposition comes. How many marriages—a little dispute, a little opposition—and they throw in the towel? How many church swappers—a little dispute, a little opposition—and you’re bouncing around? And the pastors—we know each other—“She’s in mine now.” You know—“Get her awake.” Anyway—because you’ve got to hang in there. Go where God’s called you to relate—wherever that is, no doubt—and then just get in there and say, “Here I am—connected. God, speak to me, plant me, root me. I’m ready to do what You’ve established here.” But the last one—if you stay steadfast and don’t give up with the well of Dispute and the well of Opposition—you keep digging and you get to that pure water where all of a sudden God makes room for you. And no matter what happens, there is room for you. And He says your gift will make room for you. God establishes you. It makes me think of this—because the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—Abraham dug those wells, and then you had Isaac re-dig these wells. But isn’t it interesting—the Samaritan woman, all these years later—thousands of years, think about it—God is going to speak to us, and He’s going to speak to us about His heart in how He’s speaking to this Samaritan woman who is drawing water from where? She’s drawing water from Jacob’s well. I mean, God—Jesus—went all the way—and you’re trying not to—listen. Jesus went all the way back to Jacob, because it’s Him. That’s the water—that’s His Spirit, you know? I mean, how can you think about it? And so He goes all the way to the Samaritan woman who’s drinking water from their fathers’ well—Jacob’s well (which is also Israel, when you think about it)—and He says, “But I can give you a stream. I can give you water—if you ask of Me, I could give you water to drink that you’ll never thirst again.” It’s all about wells. Think about it—it’s all about wells. But what if she wasn’t by the wells of the fathers? There were other women around the other wells; other things going on—but she was at the fathers’ well. Right? Yeah. Imagine—that’s exciting when you think about it.
Elijah and Elisha—Staying With the Father And He says—this is what He said about Elijah and Elisha. He says, “If you’re still with me”—because there was a school going on. There was a school of prophets—and people were learning “This is how you prophesy; that’s not right; this is right.” But there was an Elijah–Elisha relationship—they both were prophets, they both abided with the Lord and shared what God said. And so—this is what Elisha said to Elijah—or vice versa. Elijah said to Elisha—the younger one said—“I want your mantle.” And he says, “If you’re with me—if you’re with me.” Think about that—“If you’re with me.” “If you’re with me when I go. If you’re with me.” What does that mean? If you’re related; if you’re still connected; if you can put up with all the things that I’m having to go through to follow God—and all the scars of dealing with it. He had to deal with Jezebel, with Baal and the prophets of Baal; call down fire and then run for his life; go through depression; through cave experiences—fire and earthquake and all these different things—and then come out of that into fathering—he began to father Elisha. You can imagine how sad he was—because we’re just human. You want so badly for God’s folks to respond. He says, “Choose who you’re going to serve,” and they’re still struggling; Jezebel’s still in play. It wasn’t going to be Elijah—but his spiritual son—who would anoint Jehu, who would go deal with this. He didn’t get to see it, on earth. Because they stayed related—because they stayed connected. Understand this: when Elisha went to Elijah and said, “Here I am; I’m going to go with you”—after his spiritual father laid hands on him—he said, “What have I done to you? Go away from me.” And how many people, when they hear a direct word from where God’s called you to be—a firm word—get offended and walk away from their destiny; get their feelings hurt? Think about it—this man, because he didn’t get his feelings hurt, was going to be part of the strategy of God that would deal with ungodly leadership over Israel and decapitate all the heads of Ahab’s sons and restructure Israel again to serve God. People want it to happen in their season and their life—but it’s all connected. If Jehu wouldn’t have connected to Elisha, if Elisha wouldn’t have connected to Elijah—this lineage—then Jezebel might still be there.
Church Government and Family—Unlocking Earthly Government Right now, we have this strong—according to, I believe, Chuck Pierce—governmental lockup in the natural because there’s a governmental lockup in the Church, and God has to—the Church needs to move into God’s form of government. We’ve got to change—we either have to change our headships or the headship has to change their viewpoints and line up with God’s form of government, which I believe is family. Then the earth government will change. “If My people who are called by My name” get their government right, you don’t have to worry about the government where you live. So lineage was so important. You have Elisha—working his job (carpentry, electronics, computer, sales)—he was plowing a field. Elijah comes and throws his mantle over him, prays for him, and walks on. Immediately he responded. Think about it—how many people miss the call of God because they don’t immediately respond? They want to think too much. I’m so tired of thinkers—I mean, not intelligence (I love intelligence; I love listening to intelligent people talk because I’m not, so I can get a conversation). But taking what God clearly says without any shadow of doubt—it’s not complicated—and then taking it in your finite mind (you don’t even know how to work out calculus; you don’t know what a logarithm is; you don’t know how computers work; you haven’t even read the manual), and you’re trying to change what God is doing instead of saying, “Okay, God, I’m going to follow You the way the disciples followed Jesus.” Immediately he responded, and he took his job—his work—the plow—and broke it up and burned it, and he took off after God—what God was doing. And he stayed in right relationship with a spiritual father. Because of that, a double portion of what God was doing inside the river of God that was flowing through Elijah—a double portion of that river came into Elisha. He did twice as many things for God—miracles and those types of things—than what God was doing through Elijah. Elijah, as a spiritual father, would be going, “That’s great—thank God.” Especially if you go off in a chariot (which—that’s not going to happen again). Then it was Elisha who ran in there suddenly and laid hands on the strategy of God. Think about it—some people say, “We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do this.” No—God could have you run into a situation because you stay rightly related. Because you’re carrying the mantle, because you’re abiding with God and hearing Him, and one day in your abiding time He says, “Listen, there’s a man named Jehu—he’s a general—he’s going to be in this little cubbyhole over here in the city. I want you to run in there, lay hands on him, prophesy to him and tell him what’s going on, and then take off.” That was it. If you’re Jehu—you’re like, “God, wouldn’t it be better if everybody heard that You want me to do this?” But nobody heard—no, it was just that. Jehu—just like Elisha—took it and ran with it. It was amazing how God anointed—think about it: you’re looking at a double of a double of a double—and Jehu comes in with such force and wisdom. He knows not to get close to Jezebel. He knows how to throw a Baal party to bring everybody together to deal with the prophets and followers of Baal and shift—he has the guts to shift God’s people back to God. It’s amazing.
Honor in Civic Life—Pensacola’s Example But imagine all of that—because this is the wells of our fathers—that if we said, “We don’t need to re-dig no wells. What is Elijah talking about? He had his day in the sun. I’m Elisha. I don’t need—” First of all, is that how you treat human beings? Is that how you treat—? I’m looking at government—where the Hub is, where we have the Hub and the Dream Center. There were two men in that city during the hurricanes that came into Escambia County—Pensacola. One was the sheriff, Ron McNesby—Ronnie Mac—and the other was a county administrator named George Touart. He passed away later. These two men—the county commissioners told George Touart, “We’re not even going to vote over nothing. You just take this thing,” because everything was damaged—destroyed. Sheriff Ron McNesby and George Touart single-handedly, by the grace of God, began to take the community—which was destroyed—and led. You had authority; you had government; and those two came together and began to deal with things and spend the money you had to spend. They didn’t have to go to the commissioners to get votes—the commissioners said, “Just go with this—we’ve got to come out of this.” That was huge. Before he passed, I got a chance to speak to George in December; he passed in January. He was on vacation with his wife. I got to tell him how thankful I was for what he and Ron McNesby did in the community—because that was the community I was in. But I’ve seen them dishonored. You can move people from here to there and do different things, but you still can honor someone. Even in the Church, the Lord says: honor those among you; honor older men and older women as mothers and fathers; honor women and men as brothers and sisters. Imagine—in a natural family—how that moves your heart when you honor each other. When we forgo and jump into dishonor—that’s a huge dishonor in the eyes of God. There’s a struggle now going on in that county because it can’t come out of it. It’s like a repentance has to happen—“We’ve dishonored those who labored and did so much for that community.” God is into honor. He is into honor. And understand—I can tell you your destiny if you tell me who you honor.
A Prophetic Word About the Wells This morning I was being stirred in the Spirit, and I heard the Lord say a couple of things, and I wanted to share them with you and the VFN family. The Lord says there have been some wells, and He said, “The area that the Hub operates—there are wells. And you’re digging up the wells, son. You’re digging up the wells. The wells have been there.” And He said right now they were being held up by man and man’s religion. And the Lord said, “Son, I’ve given you authority. I’ve given you authority over those wells.” He said, “You’re going to go in, and you’re going to unplug those wells, and out of those wells will cause rivers to flow, and these rivers will flow—these rivers will flow upstream to a nation. We know that rivers flow downstream, but,” the Lord says, “in My Kingdom these rivers will flow upstream. These rivers will touch a nation. And the ones that go downstream—the ones that go to the Gulf—those are going to affect the nations. So understand, son, I’ve given you authority. These wells will go—they will not only go downstream, but they’ll go upstream—they’ll affect a nation, and they’ll affect this nation, and they will affect the nations.” “And the authority that comes,” the Lord says—“He’s also assembling an army. He’s assembling the army.” He said, “Son, I’m giving you authority over the city. I’m giving you authority over the region. I’m giving you authority over the nation. So know that it’s coming, son—it’s coming.” He said, “I’ve called you to be a father. You’re going to father many. You’re going to father many, and out of your offspring will father many also. Know that this is just the beginning,” the Lord says. “He’s stirring—He’s stirring—He’s stirring a people up. He’s stirring a people—people are dissatisfied; they’re looking for the One true God.” He said, “You’re going to connect them to the One true God. You’re going to connect them to Jesus.” Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. When God is—and it was so confirmed. What’s interesting—God stirred the heart of a prophet in Colorado to confirm—it’s beautiful when it’s almost like Jeremiah Johnson in different areas confirming what God is doing. And to hear that—and we just thank you, Brett, for obeying the Lord and responding to that. And it’s encouraging—because that’s what we’re talking about as we’re digging the wells and what God is doing.
Lighthouse Prophecy, Prayer Mountain, and 700 Ministers When you think about the lighthouse prophecy and what God—through Bob Jones—released and confirmed through Yonggi Cho, confirmed again through Paul Keith Davis and Yolanda (who we’ll talk about as well)—God’s moving this Prayer Mountain, Fire Mountain and all that in the particular area—but it’s 700 ministers. Think about—I think Yonggi Cho ministered to 250,000 people at one time. Seven hundred ministers who obviously understand we’re the family of God and we’re together in this—you know what I’m saying? It’s amazing when you see God confirming—it’s exciting, it’s humbling—and we’ve got to pay close attention.
Brownsville Stories—“Do It Again, Lord” I think about all the wonderful ministers in the region—in the Panhandle—who love God and are laboring, and the ones who are even praying for a move of God and revival. I can’t wait—hopefully the Lord will allow us all to work together for what He wants to do in the land. And I know, Steve, you happened to be—in all the particular communities the Lord began to stir our heart to work with and talked about planting or establishing the VFN Dream Center—the Brownsville community, to our amazement—because God did so much at a church at 3100 West DeSoto Street with the Brownsville Revival and outpouring, which Brother John Kilpatrick, a spiritual father of mine, pastored in such a powerful way, along with Steve Hill, who just had a memorial there at that place. Now it’s being pastored by Pastor Evan Horton. But you’re walking in the community—and it was interesting. Tell us about this encounter you had about the hunger—how people are crying out—with Gail. “There was a lady we encountered over the weekend, and she began sharing that journey she went through before God broke out in Brownsville in 1995.” “Brownsville Assembly of God.” “Correct—Brownsville Assembly of God—early, before 1995—she was praying and praying and believing God to move, and God did. Since then God has been speaking to her—begin to believe God that He would move just as powerfully.” “And she got discouraged, right?” “Oh yeah—and she even said, ‘God, I don’t know if I have the faith for that.’ And God was speaking to her, encouraging her—just being in that moment and sharing with her what God’s been saying and how God brought us to Pensacola and said, ‘Believe Me for greater things—believe Me for greater things.’ She began to be on fire and be encouraged—‘Yes, Lord’—right in the middle of the street—believing God to do it again.” The thing I thought was interesting—God directed her to go back to the fathers. Go back—remember the stories of the fathers, of those who have gone before you—and begin to re-dig the wells. Remember what God has done. As you know, in the first messages, when God broke out powerfully at Brownsville Assembly of God on Father’s Day 1995, they were remembering the wonders of the Lord. Steve Hill, the evangelist there, was rightly related for quite some time with Brother John Kilpatrick. He was focused and studied again and again and connected with what God had done, believing God—that he could see God doing these things because he knows it’s been done before. You know what I’m saying? And so he connected us to: if God did that, we can see an entire nation go after Him. We can see entire schools break out in revival. We can see government shift. We can see the glory of God. And there’s a word we hope to share with you this week that came out during that—talking about “the time is short.” It was delivered in an abiding time from the Lord to Steve. I believe that word is a now word—talking about the coming of the Lord being near. Understand—prepare yourself. But the greatest harvest we’ve ever seen will happen before that takes place. Bob Jones—the word of the Lord to him was “You would see the beginning of a billion souls,” and he’s just recently gone to be with the Lord. So—get ready for the biggest harvest you’ve ever seen, that the world has ever seen, on the face of the earth.